A Time Before Knowing
by TheRoseOfGryffindor
Summary: Moments before dying Regulus' timeturner propels him into the future, there he finds his friends are all grown up, or dead, his brother in posession of Grimmauld Place, and a fascinating Muggleborn witch who shares his passion for promoting elvish welfare
1. A Black back from the Past

"_Hey Sev" he said as he stood up and shook the wrinkles out of his robes._

"_Hello Reggie, what is it exactly that you asked me here to talk about?""Did anyone ever tell you that you have less tact than my house elf Kreacher, Severus?"_

"_You" he said with a small smile._

"_Well since you asked I'll try to tell you" Regulus shifted his gaze from Severus' face to the gravel walkway and back to Severus. "I'm going to do something, something rather important, and it might take my life, I just want you to look after my mother for me if something does happen to me, and Kreacher too. You know I cant count on my brother anymore, and well I consider you a brother more than anyone else. Barty is a little too insane for me to ask, and if it ever came out what I'd done then he would probably kill my family just for spite."_

_Severus eyed his best friend and then nodded, he knew it would do no good to ask him what this thing he was going to do was. If Regulus hadn't volunteered the information, then he wasn't going to get it._

"_So will you? Will you look after my family? I know mother can be difficult, and she doesn't trust you because you're a half-blood, but Severus, please, I need to know that they'll be looked after."_

"_Of course Regulus, I would be honored to look after them for you, its just…"_

"_Just what, Severus?"_

"_I'm not keen on the idea of you dying!"_

"_Don't worry Sev, if I die it will be worth it, I'm not throwing my life away if I can help it."_

"_Somehow that doesn't make me feel any better about this Reg."_

Severus woke up in a cold sweat. It was the third time that night that he had been plagued by dreams of his last meeting with his best friend Regulus. The dreams had started earlier that week and they just became more persistent. He sat up in his bed, feeling much older than his meager thirty-five years.

What was the meaning of these dreams? Or was there any?

He set these thoughts aside, the Order had things for him to do. He put on one of his many sets of black robes. He apparated to Grimmauld Place.

It was terribly foggy when he got there. He discerned a man in the distance of the same build as Sirius.

"Sirius! Just what in Merlin's name are you at? Are you trying to get your soul fed to dementors, because I'm sure they'd be only too happy to oblige. You're risking the entire Order being out like thi-"

He stopped mid-word. It wasn't Sirius at all. The somber dark clad man turned to reveal a young, untarnished face, there were no traces of Azkaban on this man's visage.

"Hello, would you mind telling me why I cannot enter my own house."

Severus gaped.

"R-Re-Regulus?:

"Yes, who are you?"

"Its… its me, its Severus. How in the name of all the founders did you get here? You're supposed to be dead!"

"Severus, you look terrible! How could you look so terrible when just yesterday you looked, well, less terrible and a great deal younger?"

"Yesterday, just what day do you think today is?"

"October 23rd, 1979"

"You have the date right, but Regulus, its 1995!"

"What… but just yesterday I asked you to take care of my mum."

"Your mother is dead Regulus, been dead for ten years. I am sorry, I-… Regulus! Your time-turner! The one your grandfather gave you… where is it?"

"With me, as always" Regulus reached to get the contraband device from inside his robes but it wasn't there. "Its gone! Severus its gone!" Regulus was severely distressed, not because he had crash landed into a different time but because he had sentimental feelings attached to his time turner, it had helped him in a couple tight spots, and it had been his grandfather's coming of age gift to him. Only Severus, Lucius, and his mother had known about it, and it was gone now. "I must have lost it in the lake" he said to himself.

"I am sure I can check one out from the ministry, take you back in time and then return myself" Severus said reassuringly.

"NO! I cant let you do that!"

"Why not?"

"I-I was dying when the time turner sent me to this time."

"That is a problem, everyone currently thinks you are dead, if you're brave enough to face death again… but no."

"Its not a question of bravery Severus, if you took me back to when I was dying, you'd die too."

"Just how did you die? Even I couldn't figure it out, nobody could!"

"Inferi, so I guess you might say I never really did die, I became an undead, its not pleasant, but I would face it again if it would put things right, but I wont make you die with me just to get me back where I belong."

"But how did you end up here if the time turner isn't actually with you?"

"It must have fell into the lake when I swam away from the Inferi."

"You have made things quite complicated for yourself, haven't you?" Snape was silent for a minute or two "I'll go talk to Dumbledore about this, I wont mention names, he should be able to come up with a good answer to our quandary. So just stay out of sight for now, I should be able to let you into Grimmauld Place when I get back."

"But why cant I get in now?" the 18 year old protested, but it was too late, Severus had already apparated.

Regulus paced around the green space that was across from Grimmauld Place, then he leaned sulkily on a light pole and watched the people for any more of his kind. All he found were muggle girls who could do nothing but gawk as they passed and do their best to try and capture his attention. He smiled at an exceptionally pretty one and then commenced pacing the park once more. About an hour later Severus returned.

"Here, lets get inside Regulus, your brother should be upstairs with his Hippogriff, that's where he usually is when no one else is here."

"Wait, what is Sirius doing here? And why does he have a hippogriff?"

Severus sighed, Regulus was beginning to remind him of an overzealous student… then he thought about it, technically Regulus had only been out of school for a little more than three months. He blinked, it didn't seem possible, he felt so old as he realized that he had once been just as young and inquisitive as the young Regulus before him.

"Your brother lives here, and as for the Hippogriff that is a long and unpleasant tale" Severus said as he showed Regulus a piece of paper with his address on it and then promptly burnt it. As Regulus stared in confusion Snape opened the door and ushered him into the entryway.

"Snape!" Regulus said suddenly paling as he grabbed hold of his friend's robes "Kreacher, is he alright?"

"Yes, he's become eccentric and cranky, but he's alive and well."

"Good, I was beginning to wonder, the house looks like no one has tended to it for ages."

"That's part of his eccentricity, that and a final attempt to rebel against your older brother, who he regards as unfit to even live on the same planet as his forbearers."

"He isn't far off" Regulus said with a laugh. "So… Severus, what have you been at while I was dead?"

"I teach."

"Let me get this straight, do I have the honor of addressing 'Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master'" Regulus said with mock pomp. "Or is it Defense that you teach?"

"No, its Potions."

"At Hogwarts."

"Yes"

"Is that old coot Dumbledore still headmaster?"

"Yes he is."

Regulus thought about these details while Snape simply wondered at how badly his sense of humor had been damaged by life. Regulus and he used to laugh together, now he couldn't bring himself to laugh at his younger friend in his older age.

"Why is it that you had to show me that piece of paper, Sev?" he asked as the thought reoccurred to him.

"Dumbledore, he's the secret keeper for 12 Grimmauld Place."

"How is that?"

"Your house is now the headquarters for the Order."

"You mean… THE order, as in the Order of the Phoenix."

"The same."

"Then what are you doing here? As a matter of fact how is it that you teach at Hogwarts? I would think that that old codger Albus Dumbledore would know enough to know which side you serve."

"He does, that's why I'm here, I'm his spy."

"Who's, Dumbledore's or the Dark Lord's?"

"Both, trust me, its not pleasant, I know how you feel about the Dark Lord so I will tell you the truth, I am opposed to the Dark Lord now."

"Why?"

"Why did you leave?"

"Several reasons, I discovered things, things that frankly, frightened me out of my wits. Then there was the way he treated my elf. Do you know what he did Severus?"

"No"

"He made a cursed potion and forced Kreacher to drink it. A cursed potion that… oh whats the point of beating around the bush, the Dark Lord created a Horcrux and used the potion as one of his defenses to make sure no one got to it, but I did, and Kreacher has no doubt destroyed it by now. Which makes me wonder why no one has been able to kill the Dark Lord yet?"

"H-he had made a horcrux?" Severus questioned in shock. "And as for the Dark Lord he disappeared for ten years and was only able to resume human form last year."

"Really? What happened to make him go into hiding?"

"A killing curse rebounded off of Potter's son and after that he just disappeared."

Regulus was contemplative, such a thing was unheard of. Perhaps there had been more than one horcrux, but who could be so inhuman as to make more than one?

"But what of you? What made you leave?" He asked breaking the silence that had ensued.

"He killed someone, someone I cared about."

"Lily" Regulus said, it wasn't a question, he knew.

"Yes, b-but…"

"How did I know? Severus you forget that 15 years ago I was your best friend and as such I pick up on things. Me and Lucius had known for a long time that you fancied that muggle-born Evans girl. We figured every man has his weaknesses and she was yours."

"Was I really that easy to read?"

"Well you did sulk for a whole month after she married that git Potter."

Severus sighed and looked at his old friend, it was beginning to feel a little like old times again, he felt his sense of humor returning as he smiled at the folly of overconfidence that had been his youth. He could have sworn that no one but Albus knew about his love for Lily.

"Regulus, there are a few things I need to tell you. First of all, it would be highly dangerous if anyone in contact with the Dark Lord found out that you are still alive, other than me of course" he said with a smile. "Sadly this includes all of your family that you can actually stand, like Narcissa and her husband, and Bellatrix of course."

"So that leaves me with my older brother and my mudblood loving cousin, correct?"

"and her daughter Tonks."

"Oh, right, Nymphadora must be grown up by now. But what about our other friends, did any of the other Death Eaters defect besides you and me?"

"She is, and I suggest that if the two of you meet that you don't call her by her first name, she just might curse you for it. After the Dark Lord's fall several Death Eaters repented, some were in earnest, but earnest or not they are all dead now."

"How is it that you manage to escape the Dark Lord's wrath, you'd think he would be suspicious of you most of all seeing as you teach at Hogwarts."

"He is, but I have my defenses against him" Severus said tapping his forehead meaningfully.

"Ah! My fine Occlumen, I see what you mean." Regulus hung up his cloak and then turned to Snape. "So my brother is here?"

"Yes"

"Well I think I should pay him a little visit, don't you?"

The hint of mischief in Regulus' voice made Severus smile, he knew that Regulus was up to no good, and if that no good meant causing Sirius a little trouble then he was in too!


	2. Brother Against Brother

The two childhood friends walked up the stairs each wearing a grin that befitted the upcoming situation. What good was being thought dead if you couldn't cause a little trouble when you came back?

Severus knocked on the door and after a small grunt of acknowledgement from Sirius he opened the door.

"What are you doing here Snivellus?" he asked haughtily.

"Hey, Siri, I'd appreciate it if you were a little more civil to my best friend."

From the second that Regulus had spoke the nickname of Siri, Sirius' blood had frozen. Only his little brother had ever called him that.

"R-rr-regulus?"

Regulus came out from behind Snape's shadow and looked squarely at his brother. A brief bit of unexpected concern flashed across Regulus' face. Sirius looked grossly aged, more so than Severus, what had happened?

"Snape… is this some sort of twisted joke of yours?" Sirius asked panic-stricken.

"No, its not a joke, and I had nothing to do with it" Snape said and then took a step back, leaving Regulus and Sirius staring at each other.

"You're… you're dead!"

"Clearly not."

"You have to be!"

"Some brother you are. Here I am, your last living family member and you insist that I must be dead. But then your family never did mean much to you."

"Well, seeing as you are alive, just where the hell have you been?"

"it's a long story, of which I cant tell you most of."

"How like you Regulus, never telling anybody anything!"

"And were you any different, you never talked to me!"

"I had nothing to say to a dark arts obsessed pureblood prat like you who couldn't see past our 'glorious' family."

"You're pureblood too, Sirius, just thought I'd remind you."

"I never took the pride in it that you did."

"You never loved our family like I did either, it was all about you Sirius, you and what you liked and disliked. You left us, and you never looked back, I bet you never even thought about me or mother all those years you lived with the Potters, did you? If it hadn't been for me being at school, and smashing your beloved Gryffindor Quidditch team in most of our matches you would have never even remembered that we existed. You had your own little world Sirius."

"Damn you Regulus! I was young, and I… never mind its none of your business, just what am I supposed to do with you under my roof now."

"Deal with it!" Regulus snarled "I am your brother, and I have more rights to live here than you do!"

"I'd love to hand over this place, but its not mine to let you have. You think I like being cooped up in this place with nothing to do but try and not go insane or burn the place to the ground, and then there is your elf, your obnoxious and certifiable elf!"

"Leave Kreacher alone! I died to save him!" Regulus said as he gripped his wand in his robes.

"Oh, right, you're precious elf, you talked to him more than you ever did me?"

"Maybe because he was more intelligent and capable of human feelings than you ever were Sirius"

Sirius drew his wand and Regulus did likewise.

"NO!" Severus bellowed.

"Tell me Siri, did you even go to our mother's funeral?"

"No, I'm afraid I had more pressing engagements at the time" Sirius said in a deadly calm voice.

"Like what? Pranking prefects with your beloved Marauders."

"No, maintaining my sanity in Azkaban!"

Regulus balked at this, he hadn't imagined that the premature aging on his brother's face had been caused by time in Azkaban. He hid his shock well and then said… "Why were you there? Did you jinx the Minister."

"No, I was framed for the murder of my best friends" Sirius said icily.

"So, how are you here then?" Regulus asked after a very long pause, in which both he and Sirius had lowered their wands.

"I was wondering the same thing, I thought this house was protected by the Fidelius Charm." Sirius suddenly noticed Snape. "Well I guess I know how now" he said glaring at him "tell me Severus, how did you fool Dumbledore into letting you bring your Death Eater buddy into the Headquarters of the Order?"

Regulus made a choking noise and then he screamed.

"I AM NOT A DEATH EATER!"


	3. Brothers and Best Friends

"When did this change?" Sirius asked, caught off guard by his brother's vehemence.

"The day I found out the truth about the Dark Lord."

He was quiet, he couldn't say anything.

"But how did you get back here, looking like you did right before you died, or whatever you did."

"Our grandfather's time turner" Regulus said with some effort, he hated telling anyone about it, it had been his secret, but now that it was gone it was a mute point.

"Aren't those illegal unless you're registered for life?"

"Isnt being an animagus?" Severus said from the doorway.

"Stay out of this Snivellus."

"You were an Animagus?"

"One would think as my brother you would pick up on these things!"

"Sorry Sirius, I never really had much of a brother."

The two brothers pointed their wands at each other's faces.

"Now, both of you…"

"Stay out of this Snape!"

"Regulus, I thought the point of you remaining in this time was so that you could avoid dying!"

"I'm better than he is, and I'll be cursed if I'll put up with anymore of his insults and inconsiderate behavior!"

"Oho! My little brother thinks he can beat me! In your dreams scrawny one!" Sirius taunted.

"No, he can!" Severus said.

"I know more magic than you could dream of!"

"Dark Magic no doubt! You always were the worst of our psychotic family."

Two loud bangs occurred at that moment. The spells collided. Regulus seethed with anger and thought 'Sectumsempra'. Cuts appeared on Sirius' upper body.

"REGULUS! Stop, you're both on the same side now, we all our, so for Merlin's sake lets not kill each other!" Snape began healing Sirius' wounds. "And Regulus, don't ever use that spell again!"

"Why not? It was one of your best, that and Levicorpus."

"Hah! He only wishes he could have invented Levicorpus!"

"No, your brother is right, I did create that spell, and Langlock too. I was always the better magician."

Sirius was silent. Snape had created the very spell that he and James had used to torment him with. Sirius felt oddly unclean, like the spell had to be Dark Magic simply because Snape had created it.

"Now" Severus said standing up, "will the two of you please refrain from injuring each other any more?"

The two brothers glared in silence.

"I will do my best, Severus" Regulus said as he walked over and offered his hand to help Sirius up. Sirius looked at it for a solid minute and then took it. Regulus pulled him to his feet. "Sorry Siri" he muttered.

"Just don't do it again!"

"I wont" he said, hanging his head a bit, as shame washed over him. He had lost his temper and cursed his own brother.

"And Sirius" Severus said, "For Regulus' sake, and your own too, I suppose, don't go provoking him again."

"Alright, can you leave now?" Sirius said sharply.

"Regulus?"

"Its my house not his!"

"No, its our house, or no one's at all!" Regulus said. "But Severus, it would be, shall we say, a tactful move, if you went home for a while. You still live at Spinner's End?"

"Yes"

"Then I will be there in time for tea."

"Alright" Severus said dipping his head in acknowledgement and then leaving.

After Severus had left the two brothers spent several long minutes simply staring at each other and past each other. Sirius felt tinges of jealousy at seeing someone who looked so much like his untarnished 18 year old self, Azkaban had diminished his good looks greatly. Regulus stood, politely waiting for something to say or do.

"Have you eaten yet?"

"Not since supper 15 years ago" Regulus said.

Sirius chuckled despite himself. It was quite an interesting predicament that his brother was in, to say the least.

"I'll have Kreacher fix us something."

"NO!" Regulus said in voice that verged on being a yelp.

"Why not?"

"I… I'm not ready to see him yet. He's old, and I don't want him to die of shock on me, I'll have to talk to him in my own way. Besides, I can cook, I'll make something."

"Alright, why you worry about that coockey old elf so much I don't know."

"Listen Sirius, if we're going to try and get along then LEAVE KREACHER ALONE!" Regulus said uttering each word with special emphasis.

"Alright, alright, I wont talk bad about your elf!"

"Thanks" Regulus said as he opened the door and he and his brother walked downstairs.

While his little brother cooked the midday meal, Sirius kept Kreacher busy and forbade him from getting anywhere near the kitchen until tea time.

The two brothers sat down to their stew at the little table in the kitchen.

"So" Regulus said letting the word hang there for a moment or two, "if you were sent to Azkaban for murder, how is that you arent there now? I mean no one escapes that place."

"I did, and so did your friend Barty Crouch Jr."

"How?"

"Me or Crouch?"

"You of course, I could care less about Barty Crouch Junior, he was a total psychopath!"

"And You-Know-Who wasn't?"

"You don't see me sitting down at his kitchen table do you? I'm here Sirius, you seem to dislike the fact that I am, but could you at least try to mask the ill will you bear towards me a little bit?"

"Sorry" he said swallowing some stew, "Its just I cant remember you without remembering how obsessed you were with joining the Dark Lord. The stack of newspaper articles are still in your room Reggie."

"I meant to burn those, but when you're facing immanent death, things like that slip your mind."

"Alright, just give me some time to get the picture straight in my head. I mean I knew you left 'him' because you got scared, but you're telling me that you went out to meet this death that you managed to escape by time travel?"

"I wasn't scared, at least that's not why I left. I left and died because the Dark Lord had violated some ideals that I held dear."

"Would you care to elaborate my obscure speaking brother?"

"No, not now at least."

"Fair enough."

"But back to you Siri, how did you escape Azkaban?"

The two brothers chatted pleasantly over their repast and long afterwards, all hostility was kept to a minimum. As they talked they began to understand each other better than they had in years. They were far from being close, but the canyon that divided them began to slowly narrow, and they found they stood on more common ground then they thought.

Right before tea time Regulus apparated to Spinner's End and went in to tea with his best friend.

"How was your lunch with Sirius?" Severus asked rather stiffly.

"Better than I would have thought possible, but I still don't think we're going to get along well enough to live under the same roof for long."

"I'd offer you my home but under the current circumstances I'm afraid that's impossible."

"Why?" Regulus asked as he stirred the cream into his tea.

"I am a Death Eater, remember?"

"Oh, I understand now, as a Death Eater it is only too likely that you will have other Death Eaters visiting you, with orders and the like, and you cant have an expatriate servant under your roof."

"Particularly one that is supposed to have died fifteen years ago."

Regulus chuckled.

"So do you intend to stay at Grimmauld Place indefinetly?"

"I hope not, but I havent figured out what to do yet?"

"As the headquarters of the Order, well, it might be rather awkward for you to be seen, you know a lot of our old school mates are in it."

"I know, but what else can I do? I cannot stay with you, and my more sympathetic relatives are all on the side that I abandoned. I suppose I'll just have to do the unexpected."

"Meaning?"

"Tell everyone the truth, only if I have to though. Its quite likely most of them wont even remember who I am, maybe I can pass myself off as a distant cousin, that's Sirius' idea."

"Your first idea was the best, tell those that you must what actually happened, some of them are sure to recognize you, but what of your cousin Tonks? And the Weasley children, and Harry Potter, if they see you ambling around Sirius' house they will want to know who you are, and I will warn you Potter's muggle-born friend Granger is quite perspicacious."

Regulus was reflective for a long minute.

"Tell them the truth too, especially the one's I'm related too, even though mom burnt Drommy off of the family tree for marrying that mud blood Ted Tonks, she was still always nice, a bit naïve at times, but I cared for her, and if her daughter is anything like her I think we'll get along, never know maybe I can pay my cousin a visit one of these days."

Severus was quiet, he could see that Regulus would stubbornly hope to see his long lost friends and relatives just as determinedly as his brother would hope to get out of Grimmauld Place and fight! Sadly both would be disastrous for them. He changed the topic after a while and they began to reminisce on the days when they had been the Silver Trio of Slytherin, them and Barty Crouch, despite all joining the Death Eaters at a young age they had had good times together.

Despite the deep lines on Severus's sallow face Regulus felt as if no age separated them. Severus realized to his surprise that he was laughing, he hadn't done that in years. The two friends talked on and on until night closed and they began to grow drowsy after some fire whiskey.

"Well, I suppose I ought to go home now."

"Yes, and I need to get myself back to Hogwarts before my students start celebrating too much."

"I bet you're not much fun to have for a teacher, nothing like jolly old Slughorn."

"I'm afraid not, but Regulus, you have no idea what it is like teaching a bunch of whining, inconsiderate, bumbling morons like I do."

"Are they really that bad?"

"Well they certainly aren't as good as we were" he said with a small chuckle. "But I have a few students who do well, there's your second cousin for one, and that insufferable know-it-all from Gryffindor too."

"My second cousin? don't tell me, Bellatrix and Rudolphus had a child?"

"No, your other cousin, Narcissa, she has a son."

"Really? What's he like?"

"Like us, he wants things but he has no idea what it will do to him once he gets them, and I cannot forewarn him. One, because he probably wouldn't listen, just like we didn't listen, and two, because as a colleague of his father's it would be very hazardous if word got out amongst the Death Eaters that I was discouraging Malfoy's son from joining. So I try and help him where I can, but I'm afraid its futile, the boy is prouder than his mother and more stubborn than you!"

"Sounds like he isn't shaming his Black ancestry then" Regulus said with a deep laugh very much like his brother's. "Goodnight Sev!"

"Goodnight Reg."


End file.
